VAN GERWEN SAYS FEAR THE NEW MVG

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN is sick of references to his old self and reckons it’s time to start fearing a new version.

The Dutch hero is trying to get back to his best after a trying spell on and off the board.

Van Gerwen has had to adjust to a new life away from the game after his divorce from ex-wife Daphne, while inconsistency has littered his game on the stage.

The three-times champion of the world constantly gets asked if the old MVG is back whenever he turns in a sharp performance.

It happened yet again after his strong second-round showing against William O’Connor and he responded quickly: “I get so sick of ‘the old Michael Van Gerwen’. Maybe we start with a new Michael Van Gerwen, yeah?”

Van Gerwen also then brushed aside any notion he was some sort of underdog these days and sarcastically smiled: “Such an underdog…..ask the other players.”

It was vintage MVG who can be as lethal off the board as he can be on it as displayed when he told Peter Wright it’s time to retire.

But there’s a serious side to it as, with a new style of dart in place for his win over the Irishman and set to be taken into Sunday’s game against Arno Merk, it might be time to fear him again and he said: “I hope so. If I play what I delivered [against O’Connor], I know I can do some really good damage. Not only here, but also the rest of the year. You need to see everything as a big journey. It’s not a sprint. It’s a big marathon. Simple as that.

“I’m feeling good, It’s been a long run. Of course, everyone knows I had a really tough year on and off the oche and you need to try to put your shoulders underneath it and move on. And that’s the only thing I can do.

“I always say the World Championships is a different animal and you have to prepare yourself in a really good way to make sure you’re going to do some damage here. I feel good. I feel comfortable, But I don’t care about anyone else, to be fair.”

Van Gerwen’s display against O’Connor was night and day to his struggles of the first-round against Japan’s Mitsuhiko Tatsunami and he said: “I think the pressure is different in the first round because no-one wants to lose in the first round. And a different kind of player. But now I think I’m in it and we’re going to see what’s going to happen. I think this journey can keep continuing.

“Of course, I had a word with myself, but that’s the way our darts goes sometimes and there was, of course, a lot of pressure. There’s always a lot of pressure on the first round. I made too many mistakes there on and off the oche, but after that, I think I reset myself and put myself in a good position.”

Few in the remaining 32 at Ally Pally have the experience of van Gerwen and he said: “Of course, it’s a big advantage to have a lot of experience. But it doesn’t always work like that. You always need to keep believing in your ability. I work really hard to make sure I keep producing some good darts and for the rest, I don’t really care.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.